The Committee inscribed the site on the World Heritage List on the basis of criteria (ii) and (iv).

Criterion (ii): The Berlin Museumsinsel is an unique ensemble of museum buildings, which illustrated the evolution of modern museum design over more than a century.

Criterion (iv): The art museum is a social phenomenon that owes its origins to the Age of Enlightenment and its extension to all people to the French Revolution. The Museumsinsel is the most outstanding example of this concept given material from and a symbolic central urban setting.

The Observer of Poland emphasized that in this type of properties it was essential to maintain not only the values of the monumental buildings, but also to maintain the integrity of the museum collections.